What Really Happened to the Fourth Hokage
by Anonymoose13
Summary: So, we all know Minato Namikaze died, right? Well, what if he came back as a ghost? How would he feel about it? ONESHOT! K  for safety. No pairings. Mentioned MinatoxKushina. has parts from IY, FMA&Ghost Whisperer but not necessary to have seen them R&R!


**Attention! I have come up with a one shot! It's about Minato Namikaze's POV from after his death to the Chuunin Exams. It's not like my usual multi-chapter stories, but it was tearing at the walls of my creativity to get out, so here it is. Please Enjoy! Also, I put in a little bit from Inu Yasha and the Ghost Whisperer. So I don't own them or Naruto. They belong to their respective owners. ALSO, I have not finished the Naruto series because reading the subtitles kinda bothers me, so please, when you REVIEW, don't spoil it for me! :) Enjoyz!**

Many believe me to be dead, and maybe it's true, but I don't feel dead. Granted, almost no one notices me anymore. I don't ever feel hungry and I don't think I need to breathe either. I think I can remember a couple of funerals where many well trained shinobi showed their tears, but it's difficult to recall whose funerals they were. If I can recall _correctly_, I think I saw a picture of my wife, Kushina, and one of myself, side by side. However, every thought, aside from the very first after I died, that happened during the battle with Kyuubi no Kitsune is fuzzy. But it doesn't surprise me that I'm dead. I was supposed to die. At least, that's what the plan was. I was supposed to save my village by sacrificing my life and my child's future. Kyuubi was supposed to be sealed inside my baby. It sounds cruel, but that was the price for peace for Konohagakure and I was willing to pay it.

I can remember being encased in blackness before nearly being blinded by a brilliant, white light. I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my eyes of the spots that had sprung into being. As soon as I caught sight of "It" though, I wished my eyes _had_ been blinded. "It" had a humanoid shape, but was solid white with no visible features except for a huge, insane-looking smile.

"Yondaime Hokage-sama," "It" sneered, still wearing that gaping smile. "What do you want?"

I froze. What was "It" asking? My mind flashed to my home, my wife, my duty and my child. It couldn't hurt to answer the question, could it? So, I held my chin up high and said as calmly as I could, "I want to return to my village." After all, if I hadn't died as planned, then I had to go back home and and protect my precious people, right?

"It" smiled even wider, as if at some inside joke, and jerked its head to the side, indicating for me to look behind myself. Cautiously, I turned my back to "It" and complied. Had I not been trained to control my emotions, I'm sure my jaw would have hit the floor. For to my rear was a a huge, intricately carved, ancient-looking oak door that stood at nearly twenty feet tall. It had opened hardly a foot before clawing black hands emerged and snatched at me. They tore at my robes and hair and pulled me through the massive doorway and into the blackness beyond. I saw many images flash before my eyes that I didn't really understand, but I somehow knew a few of them were from the future and they weren't pleasant. I also saw images from my past, images of my team, my sensei and my family and friends. It tore at my heart to see all of these things and to know that I couldn't change the bad or enjoy the good, but eventually, as with all things, it ended and with it, the pain of loss ended too.

The next thing I knew, I was back at the desk in my office. The door opened and I looked up to see the Sandaime Hokage step through the door looking very upset. His eyes were dry, but they were red and tear tracks still coated his face.

"Sarutobi-sama?" I asked in concern. "What is it? What happened?"

He didn't answer me, didn't even look at me. He just shuffled behind my desk and sunk into my padded, wooden chair, looking years older than his already ancient age. Sarutobi-sama swiveled the chair around and gazed sadly at our village. I looked in the direction he did and felt my heart sink. Black smoke billowed across the sky, houses of civilians and shinobi alike were demolished to rubble, and newly orphaned children huddled in groups; the older ones were attempting to comfort the younger ones while trying to mask their own despair and shaking voices.

It physically hurt me to see my people so shaken up and distraught. I tried to recall what could have happened to my people because, for some reason, my mind had gone completely blank. How _did_ such devastation occur?

Then it hit me with the force of a freight train. The battle with Kyuubi no Kitsune. I slid down the wall and my head dropped into my hands.

"No," I mumbled as the images blinked through my brain. "No, no, NO!"

Sarutobi-sama didn't twitch a muscle at my outburst. I stared at the floor, seeing nothing but what I realized had been the last few hours of my life. But it quickly became apparent to my muddled brain that I hadn't completely failed. There was no sign of the monstrous chakra-fox, just the devastation left behind by the battle with it.

But I still remembered. I almost wished I could forget everything that had happened. Kushina was dead and there was nothing I could do about it. She always was smarter than me, so she probably denied whatever that creepy thing in the white space had offered her and slipped into death with as much peace as her loud nature would allow. I half smiled at the thought of what words would come out of her mouth before she left "It" for good. It probably wouldn't have been very polite. And despite the fact that I had been grieving when Kushina died, I still had to put my people before myself, so I had gone out to battle with the Kitsune, intending to seal it into my son. I knew the seal would take my life, but with Kushina gone, that seemed insignificant. I was too grief-stricken to think about what kind of effect this would have on anybody else, least of all my child who would have to grow up without parents. I was so selfish.

I wouldn't blame anybody if they hated my guts or blamed me for all the confusion and despair everyone was feeling. And my son. He _should_ hate me. He would probably be treated like a leper because of my hasty decision, and despite the fact that I had told Sarutobi-sama how I wanted Naruto to be treated, people would always have their prejudices against the awful chakra-fox. Sarutobi-sama had stared at me hopelessly as if he knew that the people would never be that forgiving.

However, now I was able to look back on my mistakes and realize how foolish I was. I guess that's why they say hindsight is always 20/20 perfect. I groaned and yanked at my hair as if that might keep me anchored to sanity. It helped a little and I finally came to the conclusion as to why Sarutobi-sama couldn't see me. I guess I had always known it, but I hadn't wanted to believe it. I was a ghost. "It" had sent me back to my village as I had wished, but in exchange, no one could see me, I couldn't communicate with anyone and I had the nagging suspicion that I wouldn't be able to leave the boundary of the village. I silently cursed it to the seventh ring of hell.

For the next twelve years I meandered around Konohagakure simply observing my people. I didn't eat, didn't sleep, didn't feel hot or cold and didn't speak for all that time. Who could I talk to? No one really. The only people who seemed to be able to see me was a young priestess with long black hair in red and white robes on and a young woman with dark hair who traveled with her husband and son. But the people I watched the most were my son, Naruto, and Sarutobi-sama.

Naruto. How I loved that name. My little maelstrom. And what a maelstrom he was too. He was a true prankster, but to me, his pranks were his way of testing traps. An boy did they work! So many people fell into them and I knew from the moment he sprang his first prank, he was going to be a great shinobi! In my eyes, he was already the greatest Hokage, easily surpassing me, the Sandaime and the first and second Hokage too! It killed me over and over again every time someone looked at my son with those cold eyes, but it didn't seem to bother him too much. In fact, it seemed to fuel his desire to prove to them that he could be great. I deflated when it became apparent to me that he wasn't taking his training seriously and I was biting my nails when he was tricked into stealing the Sacred Scroll. But my heart soared when he mastered the multi-shadowclone jutsu in just a few hours. Of course, with his Kyuubi enhanced chakra reserves, it wasn't that much of a shock. It was simply a matter of time until Naruto became the next Hokage. Granted, that could just be the mind of a proud father talking.

My absolute, most favorite moment in my son's life was the Chuunin Exams. In fact, I was so full of excitement and energy during that time, I almost thought I became visible, if just for a moment. During the finals, I wanted to tear the Hyuuga apart for daring to harm my son, but Naruto gave the Hyuuga back more than what he had dished out to him. That's my boy!

And despite all the trials Naruto will have to face, I know he will be a great shinobi, an amazing Hokage and eventually an even greater father and friend. He is loyal and smart and completely capable of doing anything he sets his mind to.


End file.
